Still thinking about that Australia trip? Share your best memory, win two SIA Business Class tickets back

For many Singaporeans, Australia is not just a destination on a map. It is a feeling they return to – unhurried mornings over a perfectly poured flat white, the quiet thrill of independence, and open spaces that remind you life need not always move at full speed.

When it came to planning their first big trip out of Asia as a young family in 2025, Ms Natalya Molok and her husband knew exactly where to go  –  Perth, Western Australia – a place that offered the right balance of ease, space and familiarity, just five hours from Singapore.

Watch this video to find out how to win two Singapore Airlines business class tickets to Australia.

But for Ms Natalya, 40, the trip was not just a practical choice, it was a return. She was retracing a journey that had begun decades earlier, when she first stepped into the country as a student. “It’s not just a place I travelled to,” she says. “It’s a place I grew up in, in so many ways.”

Her story with the country began in 2005, at Monash University in Melbourne, where she arrived as an international student in search of more than just a degree. What she found instead was a way of life.

Between lectures, her days unfolded in easy rhythms – beach trips, spontaneous getaways to Sydney and Perth, hanging out with local friends and barbecues that stretched into the night.

“It was the pinnacle of youth,” she says. “The most carefree I’ve ever felt. Australians just knew how to enjoy life. They were… relaxed.”

It was that same sense of ease that brought her back years later – this time, to Western Australia with a family of her own.

Being in Perth felt both familiar and new. “The Elizabeth Quay area reminded me of Melbourne,” she says, describing its lively waterfront lined with restaurants and family-friendly activities. Nearby, the historic State Buildings – once the old Treasury – had been transformed into a vibrant lifestyle precinct.

At Kings Park, the children ran free through the Rio Tinto Naturescape, wading through creeks and clambering over nature-inspired structures.

“They loved the creek,” she says, laughing. “They wouldn’t come out of it.”

Western Australia, she realised, offered something increasingly rare – the space to slow down, and the freedom for children to simply explore.

Looking ahead, Ms Natalya already knows where she wants to go next.

“Back to Melbourne – this time with my kids,” she says. “I want to show them my university, the places I used to go. Just to give them a glimpse of that part of my life.”

Because for her, returning to Australia is not just about revisiting the same places. It is about experiencing them differently.

Stories like Ms Natalya’s – of growing up, slowing down and the moments that linger long after – are exactly what Take Me Back to Australia is looking for. The contest by The Straits Times, in partnership with Tourism Australia, invites you to share the Aussie memory that keeps calling you back.  

From first impressions to familiar rhythms

For commercial development manager Luke Wee, 38, Australia once only existed in glossy advertisements and the stories his friends brought back from their university years. It was not until he was 31 that he finally made the trip himself.

In 2018, Mr Wee travelled to Melbourne with his wife, Ms Alethea Foong, to visit family. It was June, the start of winter, bringing a crisp chill to the air. At a neighbourhood cafe they visited, he ordered a simple latte to keep warm. “It was just fresh milk and coffee,” he recalls, “but it made me realise how good coffee can actually taste.” 

The city, then ranked among the most liveable in the world, left a quiet impression on them both.

When he returned in 2024, this time with his children aged five and two, the pace shifted. Mornings began at playgrounds, watching his children discover the freedom of exploration and nature. Afternoons at places like Altona Miniature Railway were cemented as core memories, along with carefree stops for creamy frozen yoghurt.

Over two nights at Rod Laver Arena – an Australian icon known for hosting the Australian Open – the trip took on a different hue. Mr Wee ticked off a long-time bucket list moment when he stepped into a long-awaited Blink-182 concert.

Walking into the packed arena, he says, felt like slipping into a moment he had imagined for years.

“It’s not just the concert,” he says. “There’s an energy about Australia – more relaxing than Singapore, and they also know how to enjoy themselves when they can.”

The family is already planning a return trip. “There’s still so much I want to show them,” he says. 

Picking up where they left off

For Ms Jassmin Peter-Berntzen, 45, Australia is closely tied to a time of youth, independence and friendships that have endured across decades. Having studied in Perth in her younger years, Australia had long been a backdrop to some of her most formative experiences.

Years later, that connection drew her back – this time, not as a student, but alongside the very friends who had shaped those early memories.

In November 2025, she travelled to Melbourne with her university friends. They rented accommodation in a quiet suburb, a world away from their student housing days. But the city has a way of loosening time. They slipped right back into their old routine almost effortlessly – of nights out, easy laughter and the familiar pull of the dance floor.

“It was a proper catch-up,” she says. “Very different from just meeting for coffee or dinner back home. We had all the time in the world to really immerse ourselves in each other’s lives.”

Having visited Melbourne twice before, Ms Peter-Berntzen was also drawn back to familiar rituals: a cuppa at ST. ALi, coastal walks along St Kilda Beach, unhurried mornings at Queen Victoria Market and winery tours through Victoria’s celebrated vineyards.

“Australian wine just hits differently – smooth, rich, and full of depth. It’s unlike anything I’ve had before,” she says.

Australia also presented a change of scenery and pace that gave the group a space to pause and reconnect however briefly.

“We talked about the lessons we brought home with us two decades ago – how Australia taught us to appreciate an unhurried lifestyle and enjoy more outdoorsy activities like going to the beach and having picnics,” says Ms Peter-Berntzen. “Plans to visit Perth together and check out our old haunts are in the books!”

Share your favourite Aussie memory by May 24, 2026, and you could be heading there on a Singapore Airlines Business Class flight. Terms and conditions apply.

In partnership with Tourism Australia